From Blake Shelton's quips to Taylor Swift's surprise face, from a strange televised... Show More »

From Blake Shelton's quips to Taylor Swift's surprise face, from a strange televised wedding to some absolutely wonderful performances, here are the best and worst moments from the 2012 Academy of Country Music Awards ceremony, held in Las Vegas on April 1. « Less

2/23

We've moved on to Silverstoning, Carrie:

Angelina Jolie created a sensation at the Oscars without saying a word. All she did was work her An... Show More »

Angelina Jolie created a sensation at the Oscars without saying a word. All she did was work her Angelina magic by thrusting one long leg out of her dress. A meme was instantly born. And a couple of months later, Carrie Underwood gave it her all on the ACM purple carpet. Cute, but too late.

Carrie Underwood wasn't the only one striking Angelina Jolie's iconic leg-thrust pose. Sara Evans, too, Jolie'd her way up and down the ACM purple carpet. When called on it, she said, "I did not do this to copy Angelina, it just happened this way, there's many people who have worn dresses that split before."

Scotty McCreery came to his first Academy of Country Music Awards in a very smooth black tuxedo with a gray ves... Show More »

Scotty McCreery came to his first Academy of Country Music Awards in a very smooth black tuxedo with a gray vest and black tie. When asked on the red carpet who he is wearing, he goes, "Oh my goodness, you'd have to ask my mama. She's the one who styled me today."

Looking sleek in a white Jay Mendel dress, Taylor Swift admitted that she wasn't planning to stick a... Show More »

Looking sleek in a white Jay Mendel dress, Taylor Swift admitted that she wasn't planning to stick around and get her party on in Vegas for long. "It's really fun to get to be in Vegas just for a day," she says. "It's kind of fun to just be here, experience the excitement and get back."

Miranda Lambert brought her maternal grandmother as her ACM date - her name is Wanda, but Miranda says everyone can ca... Show More »

Miranda Lambert brought her maternal grandmother as her ACM date - her name is Wanda, but Miranda says everyone can call her Nonny. And then Nonny promptly steals the show. When asked who she is wearing, Miranda says, "Randi Rahm" and then Nonny is asked and says, "Dillards." Awesome.

Listen, "One Tree Hill" ends this week, and we're really pretty sad about it. Stop judging us. It's good to know that when Alex (Jana Kramer) ditched town early this season to try out a country music career... it worked. Kramer looked all kinds of country-prom awesome on the red carpet tonight.

LeAnn Rimes' printed, cut-out, mesh Stella McCartney dress had way too much going on, but at least it was tig... Show More »

LeAnn Rimes' printed, cut-out, mesh Stella McCartney dress had way too much going on, but at least it was tight enough to stay in place on the windy purple carpet. "I can deal with eye-watering so long as everything else isn't showing," she joked, blinking away tears from the wind.

After years of looking like he's ready to bust out of his own skin, comedian Carrot Top decided that pe... Show More »

After years of looking like he's ready to bust out of his own skin, comedian Carrot Top decided that perhaps he should stop working out, or at least slow down. The red-haired funny man showed up on the ACM red carpet looking normal sized. This is probably a style he should keep up.

Yes, it's obvious Reba McEntire has had surgical assistance with her youthful look -- but hey, girlfriend looks AMAZING. I... Show More »

Yes, it's obvious Reba McEntire has had surgical assistance with her youthful look -- but hey, girlfriend looks AMAZING. If modern medicine can give you skin that dewey and essentially turn you into an airbrushed magazine cover version of yourself, then we're all for it. Plus, she's as hilarious and gorgeous as ever. Redhead in a red dress? That's no fashion faux pas when you look as great as her.

Carrie Underwood kicked things off at the ACMs with a performance of "Good Girl," the first single from her fourth studio ... Show More »

Carrie Underwood kicked things off at the ACMs with a performance of "Good Girl," the first single from her fourth studio album. It's another rootin'-tootin'-woman-power uptempo number that Carrie has become known for. We couldn't understand much of what she sang, but she looked pretty in purple and there were sexy girl silhouettes dancing behind her, so that's neat. But it was no "Walk This Way" with Steven Tyler.

Host Blake Shelton was in the April Fool's spirit when he hit the carpet before the show. "This is my last year... Show More »

Host Blake Shelton was in the April Fool's spirit when he hit the carpet before the show. "This is my last year in the entertainment industry, so who cares if I screw it up," he said. Hilaaaaaaarious. As if we'd ever believe that he, of all people, would voluntarily surrender the spotlight.

We're not saying there's anything wrong with Chris Young's performance skills, but songs like his "Save W... Show More »

We're not saying there's anything wrong with Chris Young's performance skills, but songs like his "Save Water, Drink Beer" make it hard to respond to the pop culture case against country music. "Save Water, Drink Beer" sounds like someone started to write a parody of a country song after seeing a T-shirt with that saying at the "Jersey Shore" Shore Store, but then said "eh, whatever" and put it out for real.

We were delighted when the super-adorable Hunter Hayes took the stage to perform his song "Storm Warning," because he¿s ... Show More »

We were delighted when the super-adorable Hunter Hayes took the stage to perform his song "Storm Warning," because he¿s basically a male Taylor Swift and the personification of sunshine. And then they cut him off to make us watch a super depressing montage of hungry children. Uh... we mean... good cause, etc etc.

We are suckers for tight harmonies and Little Big Town's mash-up of "Here's Hope" and "Imagine" was a highlig... Show More »

We are suckers for tight harmonies and Little Big Town's mash-up of "Here's Hope" and "Imagine" was a highlight of the ACM Awards. Child hunger is certainly a great cause to highlight on the program, we hope their fundraising efforts are very successful. If you want to help, check out www.childhungerendshere.com.

Awards show host banter is notoriously vapid. The ACMs were no exception when co-hosts Blake ... Show More »

Awards show host banter is notoriously vapid. The ACMs were no exception when co-hosts Blake Shelton and Reba McEntire tried to get some laughs by riffing on Shelton's notorious wild streak. "I've been described as crazier than a JetBlue pilot," said Shelton in a line we're not sure was on his telemprompter. Reba wasn't either. "Let's move on before we lose more sponsors," she retorted.

Amongst a blue jeans and t-shirt crowd, KISS took the stage in full regalia to present the Vocal Group of the Year Award to La... Show More »

Amongst a blue jeans and t-shirt crowd, KISS took the stage in full regalia to present the Vocal Group of the Year Award to Lady Antebellum. The sexagenarians were well behaved during the entire presentation, although Paul Stanley did decide to flex his biceps for the throngs of slightly confused fans. As for KISS being there in the first place, Stanley explains, "When you look at all the bands and all the great artists that are coming out of country music now it's definitely rock-tinged. They do great shows. We're here to tip out hat and they tip theirs to us."

Earl Scruggs, banjo and bluegrass legend, passed away March 28 at the age of 88. To honor the late Scruggs, who revolutionized banjo ... Show More »

Earl Scruggs, banjo and bluegrass legend, passed away March 28 at the age of 88. To honor the late Scruggs, who revolutionized banjo playing with his three-finger picking method, Rascal Flatts took to the stage to perform "Banjo" with special guest actor/comedian Steve Martin, who is quite the banjo picker himself. It was pretty awesome. Old-school country >>>> 50 songs about beer.

CBS teased it all night, and with ten minutes left to go in the awards show, Toby Keith led the crowd in a triumphant s... Show More »

CBS teased it all night, and with ten minutes left to go in the awards show, Toby Keith led the crowd in a triumphant singalong of his earworm hit "Red Solo Cup." It was so energetic and fun -- and Carrot Top was there, for some reason -- that we couldn't help but wonder why that didn't close out the show with his performance.

Sara Evans covered "My Heart Can't Tell You No" in 2011, which is a Rod Stewart hit from 1988. Maybe her studio version... Show More »

Sara Evans covered "My Heart Can't Tell You No" in 2011, which is a Rod Stewart hit from 1988. Maybe her studio version is better, but we were not that impressed with her ACM performance. The song just doesn't seem to lend itself well to the higher register voice. Hmph.

The ACMs featured a couple getting married live on stage while Martina McBride and Pat Monahan from Train sang "Marry Me."... Show More »

The ACMs featured a couple getting married live on stage while Martina McBride and Pat Monahan from Train sang "Marry Me." And the song was beautiful, and the couple's story was very touching (they met at a widows/widowers support group after each losing their first spouse). But ... this was still super weird, right? The way the minister was coming in and out during the song and the cheesy set, plus where was the couple's children and family members? Weird.

Taylor Swift was supposed to take New Jersey teen Kevin McGuire, who is suffering from leukemia, as her date the the awards, but ... Show More »

Taylor Swift was supposed to take New Jersey teen Kevin McGuire, who is suffering from leukemia, as her date the the awards, but since McGuire was rushed to the hospital with a high fever at the last minute, she promised him a shoutout on the program at the very least. In Swifty's acceptance speech for Entertainment of the Year -- her second in a row, by the way -- she acknowledged McGuire, saying, "Kevin and all your family and your friends, thank you for wanting to take me to the ACMs." How sweet. Swift tweeted on Saturday that she hoped to make it up for McGuire soon, so hopefully she has something fun up her sleeve for her dedicated fan.